Riot police are among scores of officers swarming central Sydney as pro-Palestine demonstrations begin across Australian capital cities.

Uniformed NSW Police officers including those from the riot, mounted and canine units, as well as detectives, were spread through Hyde Park and its surrounds on Sunday morning in anticipation of more than 1000 protesters.

Protesters held signs calling for an end to the Gaza blockade, a ceasefire and an end to “Israeli apartheid”. But the overwhelming sentiment was clear: free Palestine.

Jasminka Hadzimustafic said she was there to stop the rise of Nazism and support innocent people caught up in the conflict.

“Anyone with a hint of decency should be here,” she told AAP.

“I’m not Palestinian, I’m not Arab, I’m just a human being.”

The crowd chanted “Free Palestine” and heard speeches as police patrolled the area.

‘This is genocide’

“This is genocide, this is ethnic cleansing,” one speaker said.

Another demonstration has been planned for State Parliament in Adelaide. It follows large protests on Friday in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.

Nationwide rallies erupted after Israel launched dozens of retaliatory strikes in Gaza following the deaths of more than 1000 people at the hands of Hamas terrorists.

A rally in Sydney on last Monday, organised by the same people behind Sunday’s Hyde Park demonstration, sparked widespread condemnation after protesters began chanting anti-Semitic slogans that included ‘Gas the Jews’.

Rally organisers distanced themselves from the chants and warned any repeat on Sunday would not be tolerated.

Radical element shunned

“(Those people) risk undermining our efforts, and the burden of the consequences of any violence will be borne by the Palestinian and Jewish organisers and fellow protesters,” the Palestine Action Group said on Saturday.

While warning they could use them, senior NSW police have not yet invoked extraordinary powers that would permit them to search any person or vehicle in Hyde Park and disperse groups without reasonable grounds.

Declaring such a zone usually rests on the shoulders of the police commissioner or her assistants and deputies, although inspectors can make the call in emergencies.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said the additional powers would only be used by officers who believed such measures are in the interest of public safety.

South Australian Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said officers would act quickly if the Adelaide protest escalated and he did not want to see anyone do anything that could impact their safety.

-AAP